THE
BEARTOOTH HIGHWAY
We
had planned to do a short backpacking trip in the Beartooth Mountains of
southern Montana starting on Sunday 8/26.
Christy’s online teaching started on Monday, but she only has to spend
an hour or two online most days. We
planned a fairly short trip, starting Sunday afternoon and ending Monday
morning. After that, we’d do a little
car camping and dayhiking in Theodore Roosevelt
National Park in North Dakota. Then we’d
visit Devil’s Tower National Monument in Wyoming and Jewel Cave National
Monument, Wind Cave National Monument, and Badlands National Park in South
Dakota. From there, we’d drive to
Pennsylvania to visit Christy’s parents and watch Appalachian State open their
football season against Penn State.
That
was the plan. But then the weather
changed dramatically. Sunday night and
Monday morning, the temperature was expected to drop into the 20’s, and the
first major snowstorm of the season was anticipated. After some debate, we decided to do a couple
of short dayhikes instead of backpacking.
We
broke camp and drove up through Driggs, Idaho and Ashton, Idaho. We stopped at Upper Mesa Falls on the Henrys
Fork and did the short tourist walk to the overlook of the waterfall. Upper Mesa Falls is a monster! It’s listed at 114’ high, and over 200’
wide. Prior to the trip I’d thought
about trying to reach the base, but the east side of the canyon is all
cliffs. It may be possible to get down
to the river farther downstream and then follow it to upstream the base, but
that would be major undertaking. Also,
the waterfall is right before a sharp left bend in the river. The view from the base of the falls would be
better on the west side of the river.
From
there we drove back to West Yellowstone and into Yellowstone. We stopped at a picnic area for lunch before
continuing through the Lamar River valley and out to Cooke City. There we picked up the Beartooth
Highway. We followed it into Montana,
then back into Wyoming, then back into Wyoming as we slowly climbed towards
Beartooth Pass. We made several
stops. First we
checked out a run of small waterfalls on Lake Creek. Then we took a short side trip up to the Clay
Butte Lookout. There we were treated to
great views of the Absaroka and Beartooth Mountains, despite cloudy
weather. A bit farther on a roadside pulloff gave us a good view of Beartooth Falls. From there we drove up above treeline, passing numerous alpine lakes.
We
crested Beartooth Pass and continued through more alpine country. A couple of minutes later we reached the pulloff for the hike to Twin Lakes. The Twin Lakes sit down in a basin below the
road. I attempted to get out of the car,
but the wind was blowing so hard I couldn’t open the door! We sat there for a few minutes debating our
options, and the car was rocking the entire time. Even if we could get out of the car, I wasn’t
sure that I wanted to.
We
changed plans again. Instead, we would
do a short hike to some waterfalls west of Red Lodge, Montana. We headed that way, dropping rapidly out of
the alpine country. However, by the time
we reached Red Lodge I realized that we didn’t have enough daylight to actually
see the waterfalls. I conceded. We got pizza in Red Lodge and I made a hotel
reservation in Billings, Montana. We
arrived in Billings a few hours later.
It was raining and a good bit warmer there, as the elevation is much
lower.
The
next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then
got our oil changed. Once again we debated our options. We considered driving back to the Beartooths to see the snow.
However, I really wanted to include Theodore Roosevelt National Park in
our trip, and we didn’t have time for both.
Once our chores were complete we headed for
North Dakota.
Back to Wyoming
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Please remember to Leave No Trace!